Wrist or pocket watch

ABSTRACT

A watch, especially a wrist, pocket watch or table clock, with a case containing a movement and means for showing the time, in which a game of skill fitted in the case can be played from outside.

The invention relates to a watch, particularly to a wrist watch, apocket watch or a table clock with a casing in which a clockwork andtime indicating means are located.

Wrist or pocket watches are sufficiently known and very popular, sincethese watches can always be carried along near the body due to theirsmall and compact design. Smaller table clocks having the approximatesize of pocket watches are often placed onto desks or sideboards.

On longer journeys by bus, train or plane and/or during waiting periods,for example at the physician's, in authorities or the like, it would bepleasant to have an appropriate pastime to counteract upcoming boredom.

The object of the present invention is therefore to create a watch,particularly a wrist watch, a pocket watch or a table clock, which notonly serves for reading the time but also for pastime during waitingperiods.

The technical solution of this object is to develop a watch as mentionedabove by accomodating a game of skill playable from outside into thecasing.

A wrist watch, a pocket watch or a table clock designed according tothis technical teaching has the advantage that a game of skill suitablefor pastime is always carried along together with the watch and that itis thus always at hand on journeys and/or during waiting periods. Assoon as the user of a watch according to the invention gets bored, hecan kill the time with the game of skill.

In a particular embodiment of the invention the casing has a transparentprotecting sheet under which the game of skill is accomodated andthrough which the course of the game can be observed. This protectingsheet can be made of glass, acrylic, plexiglass or of a transparentsynthetic. A wire mesh or the like could also be used as protectingsheet.

A good visibility is thus achieved, so that the game of skill can beplayed without any hindrance.

The game of skill is preferably designed like a flipper. A movable body,e.g. a ball, a disk or the like is hereby launched out of a launchingdevice and rolls or flies across a playing field before it lands in oneof the reception pockets accomodated on the playing field. Usually,these reception pockets are valuated according to the difficultyencountered in aiming them, so that the skill of the player is involvedwhen he tries to bring the ball or the disk for example into the desiredreception pocket.

For the invention it is irrelevant whether the playing field has ahorizontal, a vertical or an inbetween alignment. More important is thatthe player develops so much skill that he brings the movable body intothe desired reception pocket.

The time indicators are preferably but not necessarily two traditionalpointers. These pointers are accomodated in a depression or cavity ofthe playing field, whereas the pointers are located between the centreand the edge of the casing.

Further characteristics of the invention will be explained in thefollowing description of an embodiment of the invention in connectionwith the claims and the drawing. The different characteristics can berealized each by its own or several together in embodiments of theinvention.

The drawing shows a prefered embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a top view of an embodiment of a wrist watch according tothe invention;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the embodiment according to FIG. 1, in asection along the line II--II in FIG. 1.

The different figures of the drawing are partly very schematic views ofthe wrist watch and are not to be understood true to scale.

The FIGS. 1 and 2 are showing a wrist watch 2 with commercial pointers 4actuated by a not represented clockwork. In the casing 6 of the wristwatch 2, a flipper-like game of skill 8 is accomodated additionally tothe clockwork and the pointers 4. The pointers 4 and the game of skill 8are hereby accomodated side by side in such a way that they both can beseen simultaneously through a transparent protecting sheet 10 of thecasing 6.

The watch itself with its face is much smaller than the casing 6 and isaccomodated in an area between the centre and the edge of the casing 6located in the upper right part of the casing 6.

The game of skill 8, having a playing field 14, a launching device 16for launching a movable body, e.g. a ball 18, and a number of receptionpockets 20 receiving the ball 18, is inserted into the remaining part ofthe casing 6. Other shapes of movable bodies could be round or polygonaldisks, e.g. it could have the shape of a puck or of a ball-like,polygonal body, i.e. of a body having lots of faces or facets on itssurface.

The launching device 16 is constituted of a launching base 22 and of alaunching pin 24. The launching base 22 has a short 26 and a long sidewall 28, both being adjacent to a small face 30 of the casing 6. Thespace between the short side wall 26 and the long side wall 28 isdesigned so that a ball 18 snuggly fits in. The side walls 26, 28 arearranged parallel to each other and are inclined so that a ball 18 lyingclose to the long side wall 28 rolls downwards to the small face 30 assoon as the casing 6 of the wrist watch 2 comes at least a little out ofthe horizontal plane. The long side wall 28 is curved in such a way thatthe launched ball rolls upwards along the side wall 28 and is guidedinto the upper area of the playing field 14.

From there, the ball falls down across the playing field 14 andhopefully lands in one of the reception pockets 20.

The launching device 16 has a launching pin for launching the ball 18,this launching pin extends on the small face 30 of the casing 6 from thelaunching base 22 through the casing 6 and ends in a cylindrical head 32outside of the casing 6. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the launching pin 24is held onto the casing 6 by means of a pressure coil spring 34.

To launch the ball 18 located in the launching base 22, the user pulls alittle the launching pin 24 out of the casing 6 by overcoming the springforce of the pressure coil spring 34. As soon as the user lets go thelaunching pin 24, it jerks back into the casing 6, actuated by thepretensed pressure coil spring 34, and triggers the ball 18, which thenjerks into the upper part of the playing field 14 alongside the longside wall 28 of the launching device 16. The user can hereby control theimpulse given to the ball 18 by pulling the launching pin 24 more orless out of the casing 6, thus pretensing more or less the pressure coilspring 34. The ball 18 is then shot further or nearer into the upperpart of the playing field 14.

Now, due to gravitation, the ball 18 falls down from the upper area ofthe playing field 14 and lands in one of the reception pockets 20 orfalls between the reception pockets 20 onto the small face of the casing6 in the lower area of the playing field 14.

The object of the game of skill 8 is to place the ball 18 in one of thereception pockets 20. The player can hereby influence the trajectory ofthe ball 18 by more or less pulling the launching pin 24 out of thecasing 6 on one hand, on the other by swinging skillfully the playingfield 14 and thus the casing 6 while the ball 18 is falling down fromthe upper area of the playing field 14.

It is hereby also possible to give each reception pocket 20 a specificvaluation since all the reception pockets 20 cannot be reached by theball 18 in the same manner.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 1 and 2, the casing is round, but itcan as well be of an oval, triangular, square, rectangular or polygonalshape.

The protecting sheet 10 covering the playing field 14 as well as thedigits 4 is made of acrylic, plexiglass, transparent synthetic orpreferably of glass. Instead of the protecting sheet 10, a wire trellisor mesh could also be used, whereas the meshes have to be smaller thanthe ball 18.

In an embodiment not shown, the game of skill 8 is played with two ormore balls 18, whereas the number of balls 18 should preferably notexceed the number of reception pockets 20 though.

The reception pockets 20 are distributed over the playing field 14,whereas each reception pocket 20 is given another valuation.

In another, not shown embodiment, the actual time is not indicated bypointers, but by digits, digitally or otherwise.

In still another, not shown embodiment, the protecting sheet 10 is intwo pieces, whereas one part covers the playing field 14 and the otherthe pointers 4.

On the outside of the casing, holders 36 are provided for fastening thewristband. This watch equipped with the game of skill 8 could also bedesigned as a pocket watch. In this casing, the holders 36 should besubstituted by holders for receiving a chain.

List of Numerals

2 wrist watch

4 pointers

6 casing

8 game of skill

10 protecting sheet

12 face

14 playing field

16 launching device

18 body

20 reception pocket

22 launching base

24 launching pin

26 short side wall

28 long side wall

30 small face

32 cylindrical head

34 pressure coil spring

36 holder

I claim:
 1. A timepiece having a casing (6) in which a clockwork, time indicating means (4) and a mechanical game of skill (8) playable from outside are located, said casing including a substantially planar viewable surface having a first area portion wherein said time indicating means is disposed adjacent to but segregated from a second area portion wherein said mechanical game of skill (8) is disposed, said mechanical game of skill comprising a playing field (14), a movable body (18), and at least one reception pocket (20) receiving said movable body (18), characterized by said movable body being moved and set into play within said playing field by the triggering of a launching device (16).
 2. A timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that time indicating means are constituted by at least two pointers (4).
 3. A timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that said casing (6) is provided with a transparent protecting sheet (10) through which the course of the game is observable.
 4. A timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that said mechanical game of skill (8) has two or more movable bodies (18).
 5. A timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that more reception pockets (20) than movable bodies (18) are provided.
 6. A timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that said reception pockets (20) are distributed over said playing field (14).
 7. A timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that said launching device (16) further comprises a launching base (22) receiving said movable body (18) and a pretensable launching pin (24), whereas the body (18) located in the launching base (22) is movable by triggering said pretensable launching pin (24).
 8. A timepiece according to claim 7, characterized in that the launching base (22) has a long side wall (28) guiding the body (18) towards the upper part of the playing field (14).
 9. A timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that the time indicating means (4) are arranged in a cavity of the playing field (14).
 10. Watch, particularly a wrist watch, a pocket watch or a table clock according to at least one of the claims 4 to 9,characterized in that the time indicating means (4) are arranged in a cavity of the playing field (14).
 11. A timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that said movable body (18) comprises a ball or disk. 